7406

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7406
• Author: Bestgen, K. R.
• Title: Status Review of the Razorback Sucker,
• USFW Year: 1990.
• Copyright Material: NO

naturally produced (Marsh and Minckley 1989b, Minckley et al. in
press).
Gila River--Most warmwater reaches of the Gila River
drainage in Arizona historically supported razorback suckers.
Records for the species in the Gila River downstream of the Gila-
Salt River confluence were uncommon probably because of
dewatering and a lack of collections prior to 1960 (Minckley
1973). In the Gila River upstream of the Salt River, and in the
San Pedro River (a tributary of the Gila River), historic
collections of razorback suckers were also uncommon, perhaps due
to low collecting effort prior to 1940 (Minckley 1973). The few
reports available, however, suggested that it was common in the
Gila River nearly to the New Mexico border (Kirsch 1889) and was
available in marketable quantities upstream in the San Pedro
River (Miller 1955, 1961).
Razorback suckers were abundant in the lower Salt River
downstream of present-day Roosevelt Lake, and also occurred in
the Verde River to near Perkinsville, Arizona (Minckley 1973),
and in lower Tonto Creek (Hobbs and Miller 1953). Historically,
razorback suckers "ran" up irrigation ditches and canals in
Arizona, and were so common that they, and the federally
endangered Colorado squawfish, Ptychocheilus lucius, were
pitchforked onto agricultural fields for fertilizer (Minckley
1973). The upstream distribution of razorback suckers in the
Salt River may have been limited by extensive canyon habitat.
Razorback suckers also used smaller streams, especially in
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